DEWALT

How the power tool manufacturer uses customer insight to spark innovation

Almost $6 million in research costs saved to date

12,000 members

overview

DEWALT, a leader in the professional power tool market and part of the Stanley Black & Decker company, understands the fierceness of competition in the durable goods space.

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Fast Facts

Industry:

Consumer goods

Role:

Insights professionals

Product Managers

Use case:

Product innovation

Business Outcome:

Accelerate innovation

De-risk decisions

Business Challenge

Launching products that meet the needs of tradespeople requires bringing them into the decision-making process for ideation, product testing and usability, marketing, packaging and more.

Solution

To meet the challenges of innovation in this space, the company launched DEWALT Insights Forum, an insight community of 12,000 members who share ongoing feedback.

While traditional market research can be impersonal, time consuming and expensive, the DEWALT Insights Forum creates meaningful relationships with members and saves the company time and money. The company saved more than $1 million in research costs in 2016 and close to $6 million since establishing the insight community. “We can use one resource for the entire lifespan of a project,” says Shannon Chenoweth, the market research manager at DEWALT. “Once products have launched, we can follow up easily with satisfaction and quality surveys."

The DEWALT Insights Forum is composed of approximately 8,000 professional tradespeople and 4,000 DIY product users. Understanding the composition of the community allows Chenoweth to target relevant consumer groups for feedback. She can product test a new hammer drill, for example, with new homeowners doing their own renovations. “We have built a community of end-users who we rely on to help us make decisions that are in their best interest,” says Chenoweth.

The insight community helps DEWALT’s product teams build better products because they have valuable insight from end users. For example, the product teams were considering whether to add features, such as cordless and plug options, to one of its power tools in order to make it more multipurpose. When the team asked DEWALT Insights Forum members to weigh in, the concept test sparked so much interest that the team successfully validated its next product update.

Almost $6 million in research costs saved to date

12,000 members

Our insight community is integral to us delivering new programs and projects, and growing the business. The speed of insight is one of the best things about using Vision Critical.

-Shannon Chenoweth, Market Research Manager, DEWALT

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